Monday, 22 March 2010

The scene yesterday at the Faussagh House pub in north Dublin where Eamon Dunne was gunned down. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA WireRelated

Call for funds to fight organised crime | 24/04/2010Call for mandatory gangland murder term | 22/03/2010Under-resourced Garda led to unsolved murders - Rabbitte | 29/03/2010Tackling organised crime is top Garda priority over next three years | 03/02/2010IRISH TIMES REPORTERS

Dublin criminal Eamon Dunne was shot six times in the head and body at close range, the preliminary results of a postmortem have indicated.

Dunne (34), the leader of one of the biggest organised crime gangs in the country, was gunned down while socialising with his daughter in the Fassaugh House pub in Cabra, north Dublin on Friday night.

Gardaí believe four men were involved in the attack. The killing is one of the most significant gangland murders of the last decade.

It is understood the shooting may have been captured on CCTV cameras.

The motive for the murder remains unclear but Dunne’s gang are the chief suspects for more gun murders than any other group in the history of Irish organised crime.

One Garda source said: “The list of suspects will be very, very long.”

Local Sinn Féin councillor Seamus McGrattan said he spoke with two shocked people who were at the function at the pub on Faussagh Avenue.

“The magnitude of what happened is affecting people. It was so easily done. The fact that you could walk straight into a pub and shoot the man several times and walk straight back out again, and do it in a couple of seconds,” he said.

Dunne, Dunsoughly Drive, Ratoath Road, Finglas, had assumed control of the major Finglas-based drugs and armed robbery gang once led by Martin “Marlo” Hyland.

Along with a gang leader involved in the Limerick feud, Dunne has been the Garda’s main gangland target of recent years.

Dunne was awaiting trial for the attempted armed robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Celbridge, Co Kildare, in November 2007.

He was arrested at the scene of the alleged attempted robbery with a number of other men after a major surveillance operation was put in place for months by key Garda specialist units.

He was a target of the Garda National Drugs Unit, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Criminal Assets Bureau and Organised Crime Unit.

Under his leadership his Finglas gang imported vast quantities of drugs from outside the State and supplied them to smaller gangs nationwide. Dunne also smuggled weapons and was implicated in a number of armed robberies.

Dunne was suspected of helping to organise Hyland’s murder in Finglas in December 2006. Since then, the gang, under Dunne’s leadership, have been the most significant players in the drugs trade in Dublin and are the chief suspects for a string of gangland murders.

They killed young plumber’s apprentice Anthony Campbell during the same attack that claimed Hyland’s life.

In January of this year Dunne’s gang abducted and shot dead Coolock gangland figure JP Joyce and dumped his remains in a frozen ditch at the back of Dublin airport.

At least two other men have been killed by the gang this year but details cannot be disclosed for legal reasons.

Last October David Thomas (43), of Cloonlara Crescent, Finglas, was shot in the head as he smoked a cigarette outside the Drake Inn, Finglas. He was killed by Dunne’s gang in revenge for another murder.

In January 2009 the gang shot dead Michael “Roly” Cronin (35) and James Moloney (26) in Summerhill, Dublin. They are also believed to have murdered the man they paid to shoot Cronin and Moloney.

Less than two weeks later Dunne’s gang shot dead one of their own members, Graham McNally (34). He was a very close associate of Dunne’s and was killed as part of an internal gang dispute.

In March 2009, Michael Murray (41) was shot dead at Kippure Park, Finglas, as part of a row with Dunne’s gang.

In June 2009 the remains of Paul Smyth (34), Finglas, Dublin, were found dumped near Balbriggan. He too had been involved in a feud with Dunne.

Sunday, 7 March 2010

Names and addresses of jurors found in apartment of Brian Rattigan's partnerMick McCaffrey, Security Editor Natasha McEnroe with her partner, gangland murderer Brian RattiganTHE partner of convicted gangland murderer Brian Rattigan is at the centre of a major criminal investigation after the names and addresses of the jury who deliberated at his trial were found in her apartment. Twenty-six-year-old Natasha McEnroe, from Drimnagh in Dublin, was released from garda custody late on Friday night. She had spent two days being questioned about why highly confidential personal details of the jury, who convicted her boyfriend of murder, were found in the apartment. Her apartment in Adamstown, west Dublin, was raided by detectives last Wednesday night and the jury list, along with other confidential garda files, was discovered. Garda commissioner Fachtna Murphy has ordered a massive investigation to find out how the list of names was made public. Under legislation, only the defence lawyers, prosecution and the Courts Service are allowed to have possession of jury lists in order to ensure that personal details that might put jurors in danger are not leaked. It is likely that gardaí will now offer security advice to the men and women who deliberated in the trial of Rattigan last November and December for the murder of Declan Gavin. A previous jury who deliberated on the case could not agree on a verdict and was discharged. The murder trial was blighted by the intimidation of witnesses and gardaí and two officers were openly threatened with murder in court. Brian Rattigan (26) was found guilty of the 2001 murder of Gavin, who was stabbed to death outside a fast-food outlet in Crumlin. It was the first murder in the so-called Crumlin/Drimnagh feud, which has claimed the lives of 16 people so far. Fine Gael's Charlie Flanagan has described the finding of the jury list as "a very sinister development". "It underlines reports that there have been attempts at jury intimidation. Juror intimidation is a very serious issue and it is obvious that organised criminals in Dublin and elsewhere will go to any length to subvert the criminal justice system. "How somebody could obtain such sensitive information as to the home addresses and perhaps even contact numbers of jurors is of very serious concern. Steps should be taken by the authorities to protect jurors above all, and this certainly justifies to some extent the use of [the] non-jury special criminal court in gangland cases." It is understood that Natasha McEnroe had no explanation as to how the confidential documents came into her apartment and she was released without charge. She has been involved in a relationship with Rattigan for over a decade and the couple have one child together. He is serving a life sentence in prison. She was arrested following the murder of Declan Gavin and told gardaí that the dead man "was a bleedin' rat" and whoever murdered him "should have got a motorbike and done it right. I hated him." This is the first known case where the names and addresses of jurors in such a high-profile trial have been discovered in such circumstances and the development is of huge concern to gardaí. During the trial of Rattigan last year, attempts were made to intimidate witnesses and gardaí involved in the case and Judge Barry White commented on this when the verdict was handed down. Judge White jailed one Rattigan associate for contempt of court after he turned up in court each day and stared at jurors and potential witnesses in a blatant attempt at intimidation. The judge is known to be angry about the intimidation. During a contempt of court hearing taken by Brian Rattigan against three newspapers last week, Judge White said that any offence committed by the papers "pales in comparison" to the "witness intimidation" during the Declan Gavin trial. He said he took a "very strong view" of the intimidation. There have been widespread fears in political circles that there is the potential for jury intimidation in gangland trials. Justice minister Dermot Ahern introduced legislation last summer to allow gangland trials to take place before non-jury courts to prevent possible intimidation.March 7, 2010

The use of juries in gangland trials could end after gardai found a list containing the names, addresses and even telephone numbers of an entire jury, which sat on a murder trial.

The list, along with an entire set of garda documents relating to the case and other intelligence files, was found during a raid on a house last Tuesday night in south inner-city Dublin.

Gardai arrested the girlfriend of an imprisoned, major gangland figure and another man, who was in bed with her.

The names of those arrested, and the trial -- which did not result in a conviction -- cannot be revealed for legal reasons.

A major investigation has started into how the gang came to get hold of the jury details, which would have allowed them to intimidate the jury members and their families.

Among the other documents gardai found were intelligence files, which, it is believed, were stolen by a petty thief in 2008 from an unmarked garda car parked outside Blackrock garda station.

These files gave details of members of the gang led by "Fat" Freddie Thompson, who has been at the centre of the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud, which has claimed 16 lives over the past 10 years.

At the height of the killing in 2008, Thompson's gang rented apartments in the Dun Laoghaire, Sandyford and Foxrock areas in an attempt to evade detection by their enemies.

When gardai discovered the file was missing they visited each of the Thompson gang members at the addresses to warn them that their safety was endangered. At least one of the gang threatened to sue the Garda Siochana over the loss of the file. The gang eventually all moved to other addresses.

Threatening witnesses and suspected tampering with juries led Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to bring forward his anti-gang legislation last year in the Criminal Justice Amendment Act.

As well as providing for the new offence of directing a criminal gang, it included provision for criminal trials to be heard before the non-jury Special Criminal Court. Both measures had been strongly advocated by this newspaper as gangland violence has escalated to record levels.

Introducing the legislation in the Dail last July, the minister said that while it was a "big step" to use the non-jury Special Criminal Court, "a failure to take that decision would be to shirk our over-riding responsibility to ensure that the rule of law prevails".

The minister pointed out that the "threat to witnesses is already clearly accepted".

Gangs were prepared to go further than intimidation and, until the murder in Limerick of Roy Collins, whose father Steve Collins had given evidence in a criminal trial, Mr Ahern said he had resisted calls for sterner legislation, adding: "But I cannot stand by and let our criminal justice system be undermined."

He said the measures were not taken lightly "but we must bring every available legal instrument to the fight against organised crime".

The ease with which the Dublin gang (not the Thompson gang) was able to acquire a full list of jury members with all their details will also call into question the new legislation brought in at the start of last year which allows judges to permit jurors to return to their homes at night or at weekends during the period when they are deliberating a verdict.

Saturday, 6 March 2010

A LIST of names and addresses of a jury involved in a murder trial has been found in the home of a major gang crime suspect.

The discovery was made during a search and arrest operation this week in Dublin’s south city and has prompted a top level garda investigation.

It also raises serious questions over the integrity of the justice system, as detectives try to establish how the detailed information was obtained by criminals.

Other files including some with garda intelligence information on suspects from the Crumlin/Drimnagh feud were also found.

The jurors listed in the documents were involved in a lengthy murder trial that centred around a well- known gangster and drug dealer.

The information was so detailed that it even included phone numbers for the individual members and their home addresses.

Gardai made the worrying find when they searched the home of a close female friend of the gangster as part of an investigation into a separate murder in the city.

A source told the Herald: "This is a very serious matter which hits at the heart of our whole judicial system.

"Criminals with access to this sort of information have the capacity to undermine the entire jury system.

"A major investigation into how the leak could have occurred is under way and as few people have access to such information, it is expected that officers will get to the bottom of this quickly."

The Herald has also learned that detectives retrieved other sensitive documents, including garda intelligence files on the Crumlin/Drimnagh feud.

The files, which were stolen from the back of a patrol car in 2008, listed the names of about two dozen associates of a gang leader, who had addresses in the greater Dun Laoghaire area.

The five pages of documents included their photos, car registration numbers and addresses, mainly in the Sandyford and Stepaside areas.

They were reported to have been photocopied and distributed widely among the rival gang members.

Those listed were contacted by gardai, informed of the theft, and advised to take extra precautions for their personal safety and their property.

One of the leading crime figures threatened to sue the State for putting his life in danger through their "negligence".

Gardai have launched a major investigation into both finds and are understood to be particularly concerned about the jury list. Jurors and witnesses have been intimidated in the past during a number of trials and sources said this discovery is a seriously worrying development.